When will we have an election result?
It's the big election question that no one has a satisfying answer for just yet.
That's because it all comes down to how close the race is between the two major parties by the end of today.
Vote counting begins from 6pm
So, at a bare minimum, we will start to get election results from some time from 6pm AEST onwards.
Although there has been a high number of early votes this election, a new law will allow the electoral commission to start sorting votes early — from 4pm to be exact.
"We will hopefully not be up as late as in 2016 and 2019. There is a new law that permits the electoral commission to start sorting pre-poll votes by 4pm on Saturday," the ABC's chief election analyst, Antony Green, says.
That means staff will be able to prepare votes so they are able to be sorted and counted right away from 6pm.
"Hopefully, they can get to the count of pre-polls quicker," Green says.
How can we follow the results?
Green will be popping up regularly on your ABC screens after polls close. The updates will also be coming through in our live blog.
You can follow all of the latest election updates in our live blog, and the rolling coverage on the ABC News Channel.
After 6pm, results will start to be released by the Australian Electoral Commission.
As they come in, the results will be fed into the ABC election computer managed by Green.
Green — who is usually the first to call Australian elections — will monitor the data and call the election based on the results.
When have elections been called in the past?
In March, Green called the South Australian state election at roughly 7:30pm.
At the 2021 WA election, he called the result at about 8:40pm.
The last federal election in 2019 was called by Green at about 9:30pm.
He says one of the earliest elections he called was at roughly 7pm in 2013, when it looked obvious Labor had lost the election.
How long will we be waiting tonight?
Again, it depends on how close the result is.
With a bit more of the vote counted now, Green's given his latest update and the main message is things are messy because primary votes are split across a bunch of different parties — not just Labor and the Coalition.
Green says it could be 'two or three weeks' to work out who forms government.
What does the polling say?
If most of the polling throughout the election is correct, and Labor has a 53 per cent lead, Green says a trend will emerge pretty early.
However, if the polls are incorrect, we may have to wait longer for a result.
The latest polls have shown a tightening in the race between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese.
It's worth keeping in mind that polling was wrong in the last election and has been in other major elections.
Want to know more?
Want help to find out which party aligns most with your values? Our Vote Compass tool can help you out.
You can find out where the major parties stand on issues that matter to you with this piece.
Again, follow all of the latest election updates in our live blog, and the rolling coverage on the ABC News Channel.
And you can check out our dedicated Australia Votes page.
